Chinese Authorities Arrest Uyghur Scholar Ilham Tohti and Students

On February 20, 2014, the Urumqi Municipal Public Security Bureau formally arrested Minzu University professor Ilham Tohti on charges of separatism.[1] The arrest notice indicated authorities were detaining Tohti in a detention center in Urumqi, the regional capital of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR).[2] Authorities reportedly only informed Tohti’s wife about her husband’s arrest on February 25.[3] Prosecutors formally approved Tohti’s arrest just short of the 37-day limit mandated by Article 69 of the PRC Criminal Procedure Law. On February 27, Tohti’s lawyer, Li Fangping, stated authorities had denied him permission to meet with Tohti because his case involved “state secrets.”[4] Prior to February 25, authorities had refused to provide information on Tohti’s whereabouts.[5]    

Under Articles 103 and 105 of the PRC Criminal Law, the crime of separatism is punishable by life imprisonment. If authorities deem the circumstances of the crime to be especially serious, Article 113 of the Criminal Law allows for a punishment of death.

Background on Tohti’s Case and Previous Harassment

On January 15, 2014, security personnel from both the XUAR and Beijing municipality detained Tohti in a raid of his home in Beijing.[6] Tohti’s wife Guzelnur reported around 30 police officers participated in the raid, seizing computers and other items, including all of the family’s cellphones.[7] Following Tohti’s detention, hackers reportedly disabled Uyghur Online (https://www.uighurbiz.net/),[8] a Web site Tohti founded in 2006 that focuses on Uyghur issues and ethnic policy in China.[9] Tohti had previously criticized Chinese government policy in the XUAR on the Web site and elsewhere.[10] Authorities have closed down the Web site on multiple occasions in the past.[11]

Following his detention, officials issued public statements accusing Tohti of wrongdoing, while also reportedly censoring his name online. On January 16, 2014, a Chinese Foreign Affairs Ministry spokesman stated Tohti was “criminally detained” on suspicion of “committing crimes and violating the law.”[12] On January 25, the Urumqi Public Security Bureau issued a statement on its Sina Weibo account saying Tohti had incited his students to overthrow the government and promoted independence for Xinjiang.[13] According to China Digital Times, on January 17, Sina Weibo began censoring searches for Tohti’s name.[14] The state-controlled Global Times published articles after Tohti’s detention connecting his university lectures with support for terrorism.[15] However, a Global Times article published on January 27 was uncritical of Tohti, highlighting challenges it said ethnic scholars face when expressing their views.[16]

Authorities had subjected Tohti to harassment and restrictions on his movement prior to his January 2014 detention. In February 2013, authorities detained Tohti at the Beijing Capital International Airport and prevented him from traveling to the United States.[17] In late 2013, authorities warned Tohti not to speak to journalists, after he voiced concerns to the media regarding security measures and discrimination in Xinjiang.[18] Tohti reported that plainclothes security agents in Beijing rammed his car on November 2, 2013, with his wife and two children inside, threatening him after he exited the car that they “wanted to kill [his] whole family.”[19] Following Tohti’s January 2014 detention, police officers reportedly stood guard outside of Tohti’s Beijing apartment[20] and security personnel followed Guzelnur and their sons when they were outdoors.[21]                

 Freedom of Speech—International and Domestic Guarantees  

Chinese authorities’ actions against Tohti contravene protections guaranteed under China’s Constitution and international law. Under Article 35 of the PRC Constitution, Chinese citizens are guaranteed freedom of speech, and Article 41 guarantees Chinese citizens the right to criticize their government. Article 19 of both the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights also provide protections for freedom of speech and expression.  

 While these international and domestic human rights instruments permit narrowly tailored restrictions on free speech to protect national security and other interests, Chinese authorities frequently exceed these parameters to punish Uyghurs for peaceful expression of views in the media or online that are critical of government policies, often resulting in lengthy prison sentences.[22] For instance, in 2010, a XUAR court sentenced Uyghur journalist and Web editor Gheyret Niyaz to 15 years in prison for endangering state security, citing essays he wrote and media interviews he gave on economic and social issues affecting Uyghurs. In 2011, authorities sentenced Web site administrator Abdugheni Abduwayit to 10 years in prison after he allowed essays with sensitive themes to be posted on the popular Selkin Web site.  

 Students and Web Site Contributors Detained and Arrested

At the same time that Ilham Tohti was detained, authorities also detained a number of Uyghur students who had reportedly been affiliated with Tohti. International media reports indicate that on or around January 15, authorities detained a number of Uyghurs who had either been Tohti’s students or had contributed to Uyghur Online.[23] On February 27, Tohti’s wife Guzelnur told Radio Free Asia (RFA) that authorities had notified family members of the arrest of three of these students: Perhat Halmurat, Shohret Tursun, and Abdukeyum Ablimit.[24] She reportedly stated that there was no information on Mutellip Imin or Atikem Rozi, two other students detained around the same time as Tohti.[25] Among those detained are the following individuals:  

• Perhat Halmurat. According to RFA, on February 24, 2014, authorities notified the family of Halmurat, a Minzu University student and editor for Uyghur Online, that officials had arrested him on charges of separatism and were detaining him in Urumqi.[26] Authorities previously detained Halmurat in September 2013 at the Beijing Capital International Airport for “attempting to flee the country.”[27] Halmurat had been preparing to travel to Turkey to study anthropology.[28]

• Shohret Tursun. According to RFA, on February 24, 2014, authorities notified Minzu University student Tursun’s family that officials had arrested him on charges of separatism and were detaining him in Urumqi.[29]
• Abduqeyyum Ablimit. According to RFA, on February 24, 2014, authorities notified Minzu University student Ablimit’s family that officials had arrested him on charges of “revealing state secrets” and were detaining him in Urumqi.[30]
• Mutellip Imin. On January 15, 2014, security officials in Lop [Luopu] county, Hotan prefecture, XUAR detained Imin.[31] Reports provide no information on Imin’s place of detention or legal status.[32] Imin previously volunteered with Uyghur Online.[33] Authorities also detained Imin for 79 days beginning in July 2013, preventing him from returning to Istanbul, Turkey, where he had been studying.[34]
• Atikem Rozi. On January 17, 2014, security officials in Beijing municipality detained Rozi.[35] Rozi had contributed to Uyghur Online,[36] and was Ilham Tohti’s student in 2013.[37] Authorities also held and interrogated Rozi in February 2013, after she attempted to apply for a passport in order to study abroad.[38] The Toqsu (Xinhe) County Foreign Affairs Office in Aksu prefecture, XUAR, reportedly informed Rozi that the passport denial was due to the fact that she was “politically unqualified.”[39]
• On or around January 15, 2014, authorities reportedly detained Minzu University students Abdumejid Jelil,[40] Meryemgul,[41] Perhat Ablet,[42] and Atilamu,[43] as well as Dilshat,[44] a student whose university affiliation is unknown. Reports provide no information on their current legal status.

Increased Security Follows Recent Clashes

The arrest of Tohti and the arrest and detention of other Uyghurs associated with him follow a period of deadly clashes that have taken place throughout the XUAR since spring 2013.[45] Official media accounts have described many of these clashes as terrorist attacks, but some overseas media and human rights groups have questioned authorities’ portrayal of the events.[46] In January 2014, regional officials announced plans to double the XUAR public security bureau’s budget to “fight terrorism,” while XUAR government chairman Nur Bekri highlighted in a work report to government officials the need to “prevent severe violent terrorist attacks and mass incidents from happening.”[47] According to a January 9, 2014, Global Times article, President Xi Jinping told the Political Bureau of the Communist Party Central Committee in a December 2013 meeting that officials should focus on “maintaining stability” in the XUAR, marking a possible strategic shift from an official emphasis on promoting regional development that had been in place since 2010.[48] Under regional measures to “maintain stability” in the XUAR, authorities have in the past implemented harsh security controls, widespread propaganda campaigns, and intensified controls over religious activities.[49]

For more information on conditions in the XUAR, see Section IV—Xinjiang in the CECC 2013 Annual Report.